An Afternoon Reunion
by Little-Inkstone
Summary: Mr. Gold expected to spend Father's day alone, little Lucy had other ideas. AU pre-Emma Storybrooke. Now includeds an extra follow-up fic. (Cover made by the lovely Midstorm on tumblr)
1. An Afternoon Reunion

**AN**: An AU where Belle and Rumple stayed together after their first kiss and had a little girl; set in a Storybrooke where the dark curse separated him from the rest of his family. Written for Father's day.

Father's day was just another day for the enigmatic pawnbroker, Mr. Gold. He had no children and the day, along with every other holiday, only served to remind him of how alone he was. It had been like that for as long as he could remember, and although he was not happy, he was… comfortable.

He was brought out of his melancholy thoughts by the happy shriek of an excitable toddler, racing into his shop. The little girl was quickly followed by a haggard looking young woman that he vaguely recognized as the town librarian.

"Lucy, _please_, I told you not to run off!" She scolded, swooping down to capture the wayward child in her arms.

Something about the sight caused Gold's heart to contract painfully. Isabelle French, if he recalled correctly, was a single mother to her daughter Lucinda French, the deadbeat father nowhere to be found. He watched them silently from behind his counter; she was incredibly lovely, even looking as tired as she did.

As Lucy began to fuss, not enjoying being thwarted in her exuberant endeavour, he was hit by the sudden wish to take her from her mother's arms and sooth the poor wee one himself. Gold supressed the odd thought and cleared his throat, finally drawing their attention.

Isabelle turned to look at him ruefully, a verbal apology no doubt soon to follow, when her daughter beat her to the punch. Yelling something that shocked them both.

"Papa!"

Her mother's eyes grew to the size of saucers, and he had a feeling that his own expression was echoing hers.

"I'm _so_ sorry Mr. Gold; she's been acting out all day." She said quickly bouncing the little girl on her hip, almost seemingly in a panic.

"Not at all Miss French, I know how children can be." He replied; schooling his features back into the mask he always wore.

She nodded thankful for his understanding and turned to address Lucy. "Come now, star-shine, let's leave Mr. Gold alone, it's time for your nap."

Her affectionate endearment caught him off guard, not because she had one, surely all parents had such silly names for their children, but because he was hit by a sudden wave of déjà vu. As if he himself had spoken those words before. He was further unsettled by Lucy's response.

"No! Stay with Papa!"

"Lucy…" She begged softly.

It was clear that at any moment the toddler would begin screaming her head off. So to keep everyone in the vicinity from going prematurely deaf, he limped from behind the counter and took her from Isabelle's arms. The hand off felt natural, as if they had done it a thousand time, and again Gold felt the odd sensation of familiarity and rightness.

"Hello, moonbeam." Gold said tenderly.

"Hi." She said shyly, before flinging her arms around his neck. "Missed you papa." The little girl sighed happily, settling against his chest and then quickly beginning to doze.

"I knew she was tired." Isabelle muttered to herself. "Thank you for humouring my daughter Mr. Gold I don't know many that would."

"Does this often, does she?" He questioned quietly, rocking the sleepy child gently.

"Not at all, it just seems to be today. I think someone at the daycare told her about Father's day and she's been looking for her 'papa' ever since." She replied sadly. "I don't know why she picked you."

He hummed noncommittally, not sure what to say to that. When he attempted to hand Lucy back she held on tightly in her sleep, refusing to budge. Indulgently he held her for a little longer, quietly conversing with her mother.

It was one of the strangest afternoons he could recall. Talking with a beautiful woman about all kinds of topics, she obviously starved for adult conversation, and holding her sleeping daughter in his arms. When he was finally able to hand Lucy back to her mother an hour or so later he found himself already missing them.

"Thank you Mr. Gold, this isn't how I expected to spend the afternoon, but I'm glad it turned out the way it did." She whispered, cradling her sleeping daughter in her arms once more.

"It was no trouble Miss French, truly." He replied just as quietly so as not to wake Lucy.

"Please, call me Isabelle." She offered with warm smile.

It was only later, when he caught himself smiling at nothing; that he realized it was the first time in memory he had been far more than just content with his life. He also realized that his mystique had been thoroughly destroyed, and that he'd probably never be able to intimidate Isabelle French ever again if he needed to.

Gold couldn't find it in himself to care.


	2. An Evening Remembrance

**AN:** A lot of people wanted to see more from this verse, and a plot-bunny attacked me, so I've decided to make it into a proper story. This is just a little follow-up fic so I can get a better feel for the idea. (This didn't turn out _at all_ like I thought it would)

**Summary:** A semi-sequel to 'An Afternoon Reunion'. Gold remembers once Emma comes to town.

Mr. Gold had walked through the door of Granny's Bed and Breakfast, and Rumpelstiltskin came stumbling out. Quickly he took stock of himself, attempting to align his memories of the old world and the new.

The last thing he recalled was being locked away in the dwarf mines, as he had planned. Belle and Lucy had stayed at the Dark Castle waiting for his curse to hit.

Triumph and victory washed over him, he had done it! He had finally made his way to the Land Without Magic. After so long he was closer now to finding his son than ever before, he and Belle could be a complete family, like that they had dreamed about. The thought of his love and their daughter had him stopping in his proverbial tracks.

There was something very wrong there; Gold had no wife or child. He was completely alone.

His head began to throb as he fought to place Belle and his daughter in Storybrooke, dread turning his blood to ice when he couldn't find them. If something had happened to them, if _Regina_ had hurt them, the curse ending would be the least of her problems. Pushing aside his thoughts of revenge he went thought the list of people Mr. Gold knew. Most people hated him.

But he _did_ have one friend, Gold was all alone, except, _except_… Isabelle French! Gold's only friend was the librarian, Isabelle.

As soon as he focused on her cursed name, images of his sweet Belle in Storybrooke swamped his mind. Gold had been half smitten from the first time they had properly interacted, but he had been too cowardly to act on his feelings. The way the curse had kept them apart, and his old insecurities bleeding through.

Not far behind the images of his true love were the cursed memories of his daughter. Lucinda French in this world.

He began walking towards the library as fast as his ankle would allow. When he had bargained for comfort he had been hoping his leg would be included in the deal, but apparently it wasn't. He should have been more specific in what he wanted, like his _true love_ and _child_ to actually know who he was to them besides simply a _friend_.

Although, Lucy knew who he was. Much to Isabelle's and Gold's chagrin, she had insisted on calling him Papa, and nothing could sway her from it.

Now he was glad his star-shine had managed to escape that part of the curse, it would mean she had been able to find a little bit of happiness within the cursed town while they all waited for the saviour. And she had obviously used her retained knowledge to try to get her parents back together. Funny, he thought his little girl more subtle then the way she had been going about it.

Well she wouldn't have to worry about it now. The first thing he intended on doing now that he had regained his true self was to march up to the shy librarian and ask her out.

Time would soon be moving once more and with it would come numerous changes. Even if Regina became suspicious that Mr. Gold had finally gotten up the never to ask the woman he had secretly been in love with for years on a date. She would be too busy watching her carefully constructed world fall apart to suspect that he remembered.

Finally reaching the library he took a calming breath before opening the door.

Knowing where someone was, and actually seeing them there, were two very different things. The sight of his Belle reading a book at the circulation desk, looking as if she could have been sitting in the library of the Dark Castle, had his heart pounding so hard he was sure she would be able to hear it. Gold had seen Isabelle yesterday; Rumpelstiltskin hadn't seen Belle in 28 years.

"Belle…" He rasped dazedly, holding his cane firmly as his head swam.

All he wanted to do was gather her into his arms, hold her close, and kiss the lips that he had been denied in the Enchanted Forest. But he couldn't do that, she didn't remember what they were to one another, the most Isabelle French felt for him was fond affection. And that was only because Gold had never managed to play the tyrannical land lord with her.

Any hope he had felt about reclaiming his family shrivelled and died. What had he been thinking, that it would be as easy to get them back as asking Isabelle out for a nice dinner? It was common knowledge that she didn't date, burned as she was by the father of her child.

For a moment Rumpelstiltskin wanted to hunt the man down and skin him alive, until he remembered that it was himself that had left Belle alone with Lucy. His curse had done this to her.

With guilt eating away at him he turned to retreat. He'd come back, with a better plan and strategy rather than just clumsily asking her out.

Admittedly he knew he was being cowardly, but without Belle to help him be strong that was all he was. A coward.

His self-deprecating thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing there throat. "Mr. Gold, I didn't see you there." Isabelle called putting her book down. "Can I help you with anything?"

"No, no." He turned back around, taking in the sight of her once more. He had to fight for love, Belle had said that once, now he was going to fight for her, and their daughter. Taking a fortifying breath he began speaking before he lost his never once more. "Miss French, I was, ah, I was just wondering if you were free for lunch tomorrow?" He enquired hopefully.

"Uh…" She stared at him for a moment rendered totally mute. "I, um, ah, s-sure. I mean yes, yes I am free." She amended quickly.

"Good, good, I was wondering if you'd… like to grab something to eat. With me?" He asked awkwardly.

She looked down for a moment, fiddling with her hands before looking back up at him with shy smile. "I'd like that."


End file.
